HTPC enthusiasts are often concerned about the quality of pictures output by the system. While this is a very subjective metric, we have decided to take as much of an objective approach as possible. Starting with the Core 100 review in 2010, we have been using the HQV 2.0 benchmark for this purpose.

The HQV 2.0 test suite consists of 39 different streams divided into 4 different classes. The playback device is assigned scores for each, depending on how well it plays the stream. Each test was repeated multiple times to ensure that the correct score was assigned. The scoring details are available in the testing guide on the HQV website.

In the table below, we indicate the maximum score possible for each test, and how much the ASRock Vision 3D 252B was able to get. As mentioned in the previous section, we used NVIDIA Graphics Driver v301.24 for the benchmarking.

HQV 2.0 Benchmark - ASRock Vision 3D 252B

Test Class

Chapter

Tests

Max. Score

ASRock Vision 3D 252B (NVIDIA GT 540M)

Video Conversion

Video Resolution

Dial

5

5

Dial with Static Pattern

5

5

Gray Bars

5

5

Violin

5

5

Film Resolution

Stadium 2:2

5

5

Stadium 3:2

5

5

Overlay On Film

Horizontal Text Scroll

5

3

Vertical Text Scroll

5

3

Cadence Response Time

Transition to 3:2 Lock

5

5

Transition to 2:2 Lock

5

5

Multi-Cadence

2:2:2:4 24 FPS DVCam Video

5

5

2:3:3:2 24 FPS DVCam Video

5

5

3:2:3:2:2 24 FPS Vari-Speed

5

5

5:5 12 FPS Animation

5

5

6:4 12 FPS Animation

5

5

8:7 8 FPS Animation

5

5

Color Upsampling Errors

Interlace Chroma Problem (ICP)

5

5

Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE)

5

5

Noise and Artifact Reduction

Random Noise

SailBoat

5

5

Flower

5

5

Sunrise

5

5

Harbour Night

5

5

Compression Artifacts

Scrolling Text

5

5

Roller Coaster

5

5

Ferris Wheel

5

5

Bridge Traffic

5

5

Upscaled Compression Artifacts

Text Pattern

5

3

Roller Coaster

5

3

Ferris Wheel

5

3

Bridge Traffic

5

3

Image Scaling and Enhancements

Scaling and Filtering

Luminance Frequency Bands

5

5

Chrominance Frequency Bands

5

5

Vanishing Text

5

5

Resolution Enhancement

Brook, Mountain, Flower, Hair, Wood

15

15

Video Conversion

Contrast Enhancement

Theme Park

5

2

Driftwood

5

2

Beach at Dusk

5

2

White and Black Cats

5

2

Skin Tone Correction

Skin Tones

10

0

Total Score

210

176

When compared with the other SFF HTPCs, the score doesn't look out-of-place.

However, we have seen NVIDIA GPUs scoring higher in earlier reviews. This is just an indicator of how new driver releases tend to break existing features. As we will see in the next section, there are a number of knobs in the driver which just don't work at all.

For what they were meant for, the little ION machines were flipping fantastic. With a package price of below $200 for everything but the OS, it's a value proposition that hasn't been matched by anything since.Reply

I am not saying it isn't worth it. I am saying I see HTPC in the review title, look at the price, and think it's not worth reading the article. Simply can't see spending that on an HTPC, that's all. It is not a knock on the product. I'd be very happy owning this.Reply